Cabin Fever Redux: Christmas with the Cabots
by CherryCorday
Summary: Alex and Olivia are back from Montauk and are headed to Albany to spend Christmas with Alex's family.
1. Chapter 1

**Um...hi. It's me again. This isn't exactly the sequel I had planned, but this storyline would not leave me alone (probably because a lot of you suggested it, so well done on planting a little A/O seed and nurturing it until it took over my brain (in a good way, of course!)). This won't be as long as the original Cabin Fever, but there's definitely gonna be some more chapters because where I stopped today would be a horrible place to leave you all hanging forever. This cabinverse Olivia and Alex (not to mention Josie and Cam!) have been roaming around in my head for eight months now and it felt weird to pack them away for a while. So here they are again to bring you some pre-holiday cheer. Enjoy the little prologue bit and chapter one! -Cherry  
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Olivia's first day back at work was bittersweet. She was excited to get back to work and return to action, but she genuinely missed being around Alex all the time. She'd sent a dozen roses to her girlfriend's office and when her cell phone rang shortly after 8am, there was only one person it could be.

"Benson," she said in her usual phone answering tone.

"You didn't have to do that," said the quiet voice on the other end of the line.

The mental image of Alex looking at the roses and talking on the phone made Olivia smile. "But I wanted to."

There was a barely audible sniffle before Alex spoke again. "It's been a long time since someone's given me even a single rose."

Olivia could tell Alex had been crying and her heart melted because she knew that it was from feeling loved and adored and being surprised by such a grand gesture. "That changes now."

Alex grinned. She loved how Olivia was a hopeless romantic deep down and that made her fall even more in love with the detective. "I love you, Liv."

"I love you too, Alex. Now get to work. If the DA's office is anything like this place, you've got a lot of work to catch up on," Olivia teased.

"You're right," Alex chuckled. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Absolutely. That's my motivation for getting all this paperwork done as fast as I can. Now, we're wasting valuable work time, so we can continue this tonight. Okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Alex reached out and touched one of the delicate blooms. "Thanks again for the roses, Liv. They're beautiful."

"Just like you. Bye, Peaches."

Alex smiled even wider. "Bye, Cupcake." She hung up the phone.

As Olivia closed her cell phone and put it back on her desk, she noticed Elliot walking toward his desk with a smug grin on his face. "Peaches?" he asked as he took off his jacket and draped it over the back of his chair.

The bottom dropped out of Olivia's stomach. However, her training allowed the look on her face to remain impassive. "Just got a call from an old friend."

Elliot sat down and began rifling through the papers on his desk. "Sounds like more than a _friend _to me..."

"It doesn't matter what it sounds like to you, Elliot, because this discussion is over," Olivia declared as she began typing up a report on her computer.

"Well, can you at least tell me if you enjoyed your vacation?"

Olivia grinned as she looked back to Elliot. "I had a wonderful time."

"Glad to hear it. You needed some time off."

Giving her partner her best fake hurt face, she groaned, "Jeez, El, was I _that_ unpleasant to be around?"

"I can be honest with you now since you seem more relaxed and I'm sure you won't tear my balls off, but yeah, you were. Fresh air did wonders for you."

Memories of her week at the cabin flashed through her mind. "It certainly did."

As they returned to their work, Olivia couldn't take the smile off her face.

###

Alex and Olivia had settled into a routine. While they were at work, there was nothing more than the utmost professionalism. But when they were together any other time, they were so totally into each other that it seemed that anything aside from them ceased to exist. There were dinners out, dinners in, movies, sleepovers, long walks, and all the 'boring couple things' they had talked about in Montauk. Work things were kept at work, and no matter what happened on the job, they left it at the office and belonged only to each other when they left.

Alex was staying the night at Olivia's two days before Christmas. As they lay together on the sofa, Alex ran a hand up the leg of Olivia's pyjama pants, caressing the toned calf beneath the flannel. "Are you ready for Christmas with my family?"

"I think so. I can't wait to see Josie and Cam again and I'm excited to meet your mother."

"Wow. I don't think anyone I've ever dated has said that."

Olivia shrugged. "It's true, though. I want to meet the woman who gave me you. She's not some stuck-up aristocrat, is she?"

"Not at all. She's tough when she needs to be, but she has a warm heart and a soft spot where family's concerned."

"Sounds like someone I know..." Olivia said slowly.

"I had to get it from somewhere. She's gonna love you, Liv."

A thought suddenly entered Olivia's mind. "Does she know you're gay? And that we're dating? Should I-"

Alex put a finger to the brunette's lips to stop her from continuing that train of thought. "She knows about me. She knows about us. If I hadn't told her, I'm sure Josie would have let it slip at some point. She's always been accepting of anyone I bring home, so just be yourself and you'll be fine." She removed her finger and kissed Olivia's forehead.

Olivia relaxed and snuggled closer Alex. "Thanks for reassuring me. You're good at that."

"I'll give you anything you need, Liv."

Arching an eyebrow, Olivia smirked. "Anything?"

"_Anything_," Alex replied.

"In that case, I need you on top of me. NOW."

Alex was only too happy to oblige.

###

Christmas morning had arrived. Olivia and Alex had spent the night at Alex's apartment so they could leave for Alex's mom's house early in the morning. It was roughly three hours from Manhattan to Albany, so they decided to leave even before the sun came up. They were spending the night at the house and driving back down the following afternoon because Olivia was catching cases that night. Their bags were packed and in the car and just before they headed north, Alex stopped for coffee and brioche at her favourite cafe.

The drive was uneventful, and soon they were pulling in the driveway of a modest sized house on a tree lined street. They recognised Josie's Blazer in the driveway, and there were a few other cars parked under the carport. Alex took inventory of who was there based on the cars. "Looks like Josie and Cam are here already. Even though Josie's related to me by my dad's side of the family, she and my mom are really close. And my mom's sister, Magdalen, is here. We all call her Aunt Mag. And Peter and his wife Lillian are here, too. Peter is Cam's brother who lives in Boston. It's still early and there'll probably be a few more family members stopping by throughout the day." She parked behind Josie and turned the engine off, then turned to face Olivia. "Are you ready for the Cabot family Christmas?"

"I think so. Besides, it's too late to turn around now," Olivia said as she pointed out the window to the front porch where Josie and Cam stood waving at them.

"Here we go!" Alex said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car while Olivia did the same.

"The other half of the Gay Team has arrived!" Josie shouted at them as they walked up to the porch.

Alex rolled her eyes while Olivia smirked. Cam punched Josie, who looked very pleased at the joke she'd just made, on the arm. As Olivia and Alex made their way up the stairs, the front door opened a crack and the face of an older woman with silver hair styled in a neat bob appeared. "Josephine Cabot, keep your voice down! The neighbours don't need a running tally of how many lesbians are here!"

Josie looked behind her with a sheepish look on her face. "Sorry, Aunt Caroline." The front door closed, and Cam and Josie exchanged hugs with Alex and Olivia.

"We're glad you're here. You can take some of the pressure off us. They've been asking us non-stop questions about the wedding. Now they can pry into the details of _your_ relationship instead!" Cam said in a voice slightly above a whisper just in case Caroline was still listening somewhere.

As they filed in the front door, Olivia chuckled. "I missed you two." Josie and Cam headed to the kitchen to help with dinner, leaving Alex and Olivia standing in the living room. There was a fire in the fireplace and combined with the glow from the lights on the Christmas tree in the corner, the room had an intensely cosy feeling. Olivia was drawn to the mantlepiece, looking at the pictures of Alex throughout the years. "Of course you were a beautiful child," she said as she pointed to a picture of Alex when she was about three years old. She was dressed in white shorts and a navy blue t-shirt, her long blonde hair glowing in the sunlight as she stood on the steps of the porch she and Olivia had just walked up.

Alex walked up behind Olivia and hugged her from behind. "I'm willing to bet you weren't ugly when you were younger."

"I look pretty much the same now as I did then."

Kissing Olivia's shoulder and squeezing her tightly, Alex said softly, "Then you were a very beautiful child."

The sound of a throat clearing from the archway behind them made Alex loosen her grip on Olivia and they turned around to see Caroline Cabot watching them with a knowing smile on her face.

Olivia stepped toward Caroline with her hand outstretched for a handshake. "Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Cabot. You have a lovely home."

Caroline accepted Olivia's hand but did not shake it. Instead she used it to pull Olivia into a hug. "Thanks for coming, dear. I've heard all about you from Alex." As the older woman released Olivia, she moved to hug Alex. "Hi, baby."

"Hi, mom," Alex said before stepping back. "Where's everyone?"

"They're all in the kitchen arguing over how to do everything. Maybe you can threaten to arrest them if they don't stop behaving like children?" Caroline gave Olivia a mock pleading look, which made the detective smile.

Olivia took Alex's hand as they started toward the kitchen. "I'll see what I can do," she laughed.

The smell of food cooking and the sounds of raised voices greeted them as they entered the kitchen. Caroline continued to the centre island to finish preparing some mashed potatoes.

"I'm telling you we should add some cheese and sour cream to the mashed potatoes. We should mix it up once in a while!" the man in the room said. When he looked to the doorway, his face lit up as he noticed Alex and Olivia standing there. "Alex! And you must be Olivia." He was very tall, with reddish brown hair and a fair complexion. One could tell he and Cam were related by looking at them. "This is my wife," he said, pointing to the woman leaning on the counter next to him.

"Hey. I'm Lillian." She gave a quick wave and looked up at her husband. "This discussion isn't over, Peter," she said sternly.

"What're we trying to discuss?" Olivia asked.

Caroline sighed and rolled her eyes. "We're trying to decide on how to change up the mashed potatoes. Peter thinks we should add cheese and sour cream. Josie and Cam want to add heavy cream and black pepper. At least they agree with each other..." she said, shaking her head. "And Lillian doesn't know what she wants, but she doesn't like either of those suggestions. And as for me, I could care less about what we add as long as everyone just stops arguing about it."

Alex had an idea. "You should let Liv pick something. She's really good at this kind of thing."

Olivia blushed. "I don't know, Alex," she said, slightly embarrassed to be thrown into a family discussion.

"Come on, Liv. I know you've already got an idea," Alex encouraged.

"Perfect! An impartial opinion is just what we need!" Lillian said excitedly.

Caroline grinned. "All right, Olivia. Show us what you got."

All eyes were on Olivia as she walked slowly to the refrigerator. She opened it and took a quick look at the contents. Seeing something that would suit her purpose, she took it out and shut the door. Above the sink was the spice rack, which was well stocked in her opinion. She selected two jars and brought everything to the centre island. "Goat cheese, thyme, and marjoram. It's kind of twist on sour cream and the herbs compliment the potatoes as well as the goat cheese." She looked up at Alex, who shot her a quick 'I told you so' look before softening into a look of pride. The room was silent, which made Olivia uncomfortable.

Lillian's voice broke the silence. "Well done! You've managed to diffuse a potential bomb. Welcome to the family!"

Caroline put an arm around Olivia's waist. "Show me how much of everything to add."

Olivia blushed again and uncapped the spices. Soon everyone went back to their cooking projects and various discussions. Alex simply stood leaning in the doorway watching Olivia cook alongside her mother as if she'd been doing it for years.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wooooooooow. The number of you who already added this story to your favourites after only the first chapter has left me very humbled and has also simultaneously blown my mind. Seriously. I'm thankful for all you lovely readers.**

**One little matter of business...In chapter one I mentioned that Peter was Josie's brother when A and O were arriving, and then mentioned he looked like Cam. Well, he looks like Cam because he's Cam's brother. I fixed that and now Josie's back to being an only child.**

**I hope you enjoy this next installment. Hilarity ensues (I think it's funny, so hopefully you all do too). EDIT: the "pink wine makes me slutty" line was stolen from the new Fox series The New Girl. I LOVE ZOOEY DESCHANEL (and I hate her sister)! That show is so funny!**

As Alex watched her family interact, she noticed something, actually a some_one_, was missing. "Where's Aunt Mag?"

Caroline looked up from what she was doing and looked slightly dismayed. "Mrs. Koehler, our German neighbour lady," she explained to Olivia, "brought over some rum balls yesterday afternoon and Mag overindulged when she got here last night. She's still asleep. She'll wake up eventually."

Nodding slowly, Alex stepped forward to stand next to Olivia, who was adding the finishing touches to the stuffing. Josie, Cam, Peter, and Lillian made their way out of the kitchen after they had finished their tasks. Soon it was just Alex, Olivia, and Caroline. When the last of the food was in the oven, they joined the others in the living room.

Lillian, Josie, and Cam were standing next to the tree and having a conversation about holiday decoration styles. Alex and her mom sat next to each other on the love seat near the fire and started to catch up on the past few weeks. That left Peter and Olivia sitting on the sofa.

"So you're Cam's brother?" Olivia asked.

"Unfortunately," he joked. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself properly in the kitchen. You walked into a heated discussion that could have easily ended in bloodshed if you hadn't intervened. Peter Gavin." He held his hand out to shake. "And the ol' ball and chain over there is Lillian," he said as he nodded his head in his wife's general direction.

Olivia took Peter's hand and shook it firmly. "Olivia Benson."

Peter smiled warmly. "We've heard all about you from Cam and Josie before you and Alex got here."

"I'm afraid I'm at a disadvantage. I only know you're Cam's brother from Boston and that you're wife is Lillian."

"Well, I work on fishing boats and Lillian's a nurse. Cam and I grew up in Montauk, which is how we know the Cabots. Their whole family would come out in the summer and all us kids would run around town for the majority of the season. Caroline's kind of like an aunt to me and Cam." He smiled again. "So what about you? Why aren't you with your family?"

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Olivia took a breath. "I, uh, don't have any family."

Peter suddenly looked stricken. "I'm sorry for asking. I was just curious why you'd wanna hang out with a crazy group like this on Christmas day. I'm really sorry."

Olivia smiled and shook her head. "It's OK. Really. I usually work on Christmas so my coworkers can spend time with their families and somehow I wound up with today off. And Alex asked if I'd like to accompany her, so here I am." She shrugged and smiled even wider.

Visibly relaxing, Peter flashed Olivia a toothy grin. "Well, I'm glad you came. It might force some of us to be on our best behaviour. Josie and Cam kept talking about this badass detective that finally bagged Alex. I must say, you're a lot less menacing looking than I pictured."

"Well, this kitten's got claws, Peter," Olivia laughed. "I'm pretty mellow unless you're a perp."

Peter put up his hands in a placating gesture. "I sure hope I don't break any laws while you're here." Olivia laughed and Peter joined in.

Alex had finished chatting with her mother and came to sit on the arm rest next to Olivia as Caroline went to the kitchen to check on the food. "I see you've officially met Peter."

"He was just saying that I don't look as menacing as he thought I would," Olivia said sweetly as she gazed up at Alex.

"Yeah, OK, I have to admit that I pictured you a lot more burly and...masculine," Peter backtracked.

The amusement shone through Alex's face. "Sure, she looks sweet and calm _now_, but if she's on the hunt for a suspect, she's the last person you'd want to meet in a dark alley."

"Who're we meeting in a dark alley?" a sleepy voice asked from the hallway. All heads turned to see an older woman leaning against the wall. She was short, with close cropped silver hair, and she was dressed in green silk pyjamas. She looked around the room as if to reacquaint herself with the layout.

Alex spoke up. "No one, Aunt Mag. How'd you sleep?"

Slowly making her way to the love seat, Mag dropped unceremoniously onto it. "You mean how long was I passed out?" she said bitterly.

"Yeah, mom told us about the run-in with the rum balls," Alex explained.

Mag brought her hands up and rubbed her temples. "Don't even say the R word, Alexandra. Just hearing that word makes my stomach do acrobatics."

"I know how you feel. I'm off the rum too." Alex smiled and then looked at Olivia, who grinned back at her girlfriend.

"Those little balls look totally innocuous, just sitting there full of booze. And you have no idea how much rum you've had until you're completely wasted," Mag complained.

"Kind of like jello shots," Cam added as she and Josie squeezed their way onto the sofa.

Caroline exited the kitchen and sat next to Mag on the loveseat. "Glad you could join us."

Mag shot her sister a withering look. She then looked to Olivia and put on as happy a face as she could muster. "You must be Olivia. You can call me Aunt Mag. Everyone else does."

Olivia tipped her head in acknowledgement. "Nice to meet you. Sorry to hear about your rum troubles."

"Aw, thank you, dear." Mag shifted to get more comfortable. "So, Olivia, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a detective with the New York Police Department," Olivia offered lightly, hoping that Mag wouldn't ask what division she worked in.

"Wow! That sounds like a very dangerous job!"

"It can be," Olivia shrugged. "It's not always like you see on TV. For each case we get, there's a heap of paperwork that comes with it. It's not all guts and glory all the time."

Alex put her hand on Olivia's shoulder. "I could say the same thing about my job."

"So how long have you two been dating?" Lillian asked, effectively changing the subject and wasting no time in getting to the point.

"Um, about two weeks?" Alex answered, looking at Olivia for confirmation.

"Sounds about right," Olivia agreed. Identical looks of confusion registered on Peter, Lillian, Caroline, and Mag's faces, while Josie and Cam simply grinned at each other. As Olivia looked around the room, she realised how odd that sounded. "I guess we should say that it's been official for about two weeks. There was a lengthy mutual attraction before that, and Alex asking me to join her at the cabin was the catalyst we needed to get everything out in the open."

Josie giggled. "You should have seen these two when they came in the shop the first time. It was clear to anyone with eyeballs that these two were gonna get together."

The sound of a timer beeping from the kitchen caught everyone's attention. "Time to baste the turkey," Caroline explained as she stood up and went to the kitchen.

Mag stood up and stretched her arms above her head. "I'm gonna go take a shower and get dressed. It's not proper for a woman my age to still be in her pyjamas at this time of day." She made her way down the hallway and the sound of the bedroom door closing was heard a moment later.

"Olivia, you'll be happy to know that Josie and I brought the desserts," Cam said as she placed a hand on Josie's thigh.

"What'd you bring?"

Josie held up a hand and proceeded to count each item off as she listed them. "Pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, apple pie, vanilla bean cupcakes, and espresso brownies."

Olivia looked up at Alex. "You should have told me to wear something baggy. I'm gonna weigh a ton by the time we leave! But I'll be fat and happy, that's for sure."

Alex winked at her girlfriend. "Don't worry, Liv. It's Cabot family tradition to undo your belt and unbutton your pants after a holiday dinner." Peter, Lillian, Cam, and Josie all laughed.

Caroline returned to the love seat and sat down. "Just a couple more hours. What's so funny?"

"We were just letting Olivia in on Cabot family post-dinner etiquette," Lillian replied.

"Don't scare the poor woman!" Caroline admonished. "They're a bunch of heathens when they all get together," she muttered under her breath. "Do you have any Christmas traditions, Olivia?"

"I usually work on holidays so my coworkers can enjoy the time with their families. Somehow I managed to get today off," the detective answered simply.

"We're glad you're here. It's been a long time since Alex brought anyone home," Caroline said.

Josie suddenly sat up straight. "I remember the last time!" she practically shouted.

Alex hung her head and sighed. "So do I."

"How long ago was it?" Olivia asked.

"It was Thanksgiving two years ago," Alex answered, a mixture of anger and embarrassment seeping into her voice.

"What happened?" Olivia pressed.

Peter, Lillian, Cam, and Josie all had conspiratorial grins on their faces. Caroline's expression was hard to read. Alex steeled herself and began to tell the tale. "Thanksgiving two years ago I brought Abbie Carmichael here with me." Olivia nodded and leaned in, her interest ratcheting up exponentially with the mention of their former colleague. "She was in town for a case and didn't have any plans for the day, so we drove up here to stay a couple of days."

"Josie and I had just gotten engaged and we brought a bunch of wine and cupcakes to celebrate," Cam added. "We got here a few hours after Alex and Abbie, and Peter and Lillian showed up not long after us."

Caroline took over the narrative from there. "Because we knew everyone was arriving a bit later in the day, we decided to have dinner around 8-ish so everyone could get in and get settled. Abbie was telling us all about her work in DC and seemed like a very well spoken and polite young woman."

Olivia snickered knowingly. "She always does at the beginning."

"When we got here, Josie and Cam announced they were getting married and broke out the wine and cupcakes. Everyone was so happy and we were all toasting them and soon we were opening a second and third bottle of wine," Peter said.

"We brought four different wines so we could have one with the cupcakes, and three with dinner. We figured it'd be more fancy if we had all these different wines to pair with each course," Josie recalled. "The white wine went first, then we opened the red and the rosé at the same time."

Caroline shook her head at the memory. "Everyone was getting just beyond tipsy. Lillian filled Abbie's glass with the rosé and that's when Abbie made an announcement."

Olivia looked expectantly at Alex, who spoke emphatically, "She said, 'Pink wine makes me slutty.' And right after that all hell broke loose."

"Everyone was giggling and there was a lot of chasing around the house, followed by wrestling and other sorts of semi-drunken antics," Lillian explained. "I got a fat lip and some pretty intense rug burns from Josie tackling me to the ground in the hallway. Abbie kept shouting, 'Don't mess with Texas!' and Alex smashed a cupcake in her face to get her stop."

"Dinner wound up getting burnt and we eventually found a Chinese restaurant that was open and placed a huge order for delivery," Cam finished.

Caroline smiled fondly at Alex. "It was definitely a memorable holiday. Abbie apologized profusely the next day and offered to reimburse me for the cost of dinner. She said she was nervous the night before and that she wasn't normally that way. I just gave her a hug and told her that between all these hooligans," she waved a hand around the room to indicate everyone except Olivia, "I was used to seeing the occasional alcohol fueled shenanigans and that she's welcome here anytime. You all work very hard and deserve to have some fun."

Placing a hand on Alex's knee, Olivia grinned at the silver haired woman. "I probably won't drink too much since I have to work tomorrow night, but it's good to know that you're OK with a little extra _exuberance._"

Chuckling lightly, Caroline pointed to Josie and Cam. "Thanks to those two," she said, then pointed to Peter and Lillian, "and those two, I now have all this grey hair. If no one winds up wearing a lamp shade tonight, I'd call this Christmas a success."

"Aunt Mag was certainly trying to wear a lamp shade last night," Josie said under her breath.

"I HEARD THAT, JOSEPHINE!" came Aunt Mag's voice from the hall as she reentered the living room dressed in khaki pants and a light blue button down blouse.

Josie rolled her eyes as everyone else in the room laughed at Josie being caught. "Oh, come on, Aunt Mag, you were pretty drunk last night!"

Standing next to the fire, Mag nodded. "Yes, I was, but I never tried to wear a lamp shade!"

"That's because you took off your left shoe after proclaiming that your left foot was too hot and you spent the rest of the night wearing only the right one," Cam reminded her.

"I have poor circulation! I'm old!" Mag smiled in spite of herself.

"I don't know about that, Mag. The rum seemed to be circulating through you just fine," Caroline teased.

The room erupted in laughter. Olivia loved the way they all teased each other good naturedly and held nothing back for the sake of propriety. She had been a little worried about how the day would go, knowing that Alex's uncle and Mag and Caroline's brother was Judge William Herriman, and that the family was chock full of other lawyers and judges, but she needn't have worried at all. This was a family that knew when and where to be proper, and knew how have fun and be themselves around each other. She loved the fact that even though Peter and Cam and Lillian were included even though they weren't technically family. It gave her hope that one day if she and Alex got more serious in their relationship that she could count these people as family; but what she didn't realise was that they had already counted her as an honorary Cabot.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey. This is my standard apology for taking an eon to get this chapter up. My crazy work schedule is flaring up and I'm once again riding the overtime train until the very last stop. I'd like to buy a day off with all that money, but that's not how it works. *le sigh***

**And I can't get my holidays straight. I had Caroline refer to this get together being a good Thanksgiving, but it's Christmas. In real life, I confuse Halloween and Christmas. I mix them up for no reason other than my brain does what it wants and my mouth is sometimes its bitch.  
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**Anyway, things have been going really well at Casa de Cabot...LET'S WRECK IT!**

Alex and Olivia sat quietly and watched the rest of the family interact. Stories were being recounted, witty retorts were being thrown around, hilarious impressions of each other were done, and laughing fits were occurring frequently. When the conversations died down, Peter turned the television on and flipped channels until he came to one showing National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Setting the remote back on the table, he settled back on the sofa, putting his arm around Lillian and pulling her close.

Cam and Josie snuggled together on their end of the sofa, and Alex looked around to see if there was a way that she and Olivia could sit together too. She felt a hand on her forearm and then she was being pulled onto the detective's lap. Alex giggled while the brunette shrugged and grinned, obviously proud of her problem solving skills. Shifting so they were both comfortable and could see the TV, Olivia kissed Alex's shoulder.

"I think this is my favourite holiday movie," Josie said after a while. "It's a pretty real portrayal of extended family visits, the consequences of unrealistic expectations, and the fact that the holiday spirit conquers all."

"I prefer the classics," Caroline stated. "It's A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street are always gonna be near and dear to my heart."

Peter groaned. "But those are so schmaltzy!"

"That's how we liked 'em in those days!" Mag interjected. Caroline nodded strongly in agreement with a smug look on her face. "That being said, A Christmas Story is my favourite." Caroline's smug look was replaced with one of dismay. "What?" she asked her sister. "Those kids are pretty much us when we were that age! But instead of a BB gun, I wanted a pair of roller skates."

"Mom told you that you'd break your leg so you got a Betsy Wetsy instead," Caroline laughed.

Mag scrunched up her face. "And I hated it! Who wants a doll that pees itself?"

"Well, you certainly put an end to that when you put maple syrup in her bottle instead of water," Caroline pointed out.

Olivia chuckled. "Not really into dolls as a child?"

"Not at all. They were Caroline's favourite. She had every baby doll on the market."

"When I was probably five or six I wanted a Barbie doll so I could see what the big deal was. My friends all had at least one, and I wanted one too. I got one for Christmas that year, played with it for about two hours and that was the last time I picked it up. Actually, that's not true. A couple days later I gave her a crew cut. I remember being disappointed that her hair didn't grow back like mine did," the detective recalled.

Alex enjoyed hearing a happy story about Olivia's childhood. She smiled at the mental image of a tiny Olivia checking and rechecking the doll's head to see if its hair was any longer than before, her face screwed up with frustration. "I loved dolls. The more outfits they had, the better."

"My mom used to knit us all sorts of clothes and accessories for our dolls," Cam added. "She used pink and red yarn for all my cousins, but I begged for black, green, and brown. My Barbies didn't date Peter's GI Joes. They fought along side them on the battlefield and then went home to their girlfriends. I was pretty gay even then."

Josie leaned in and kissed her fiancee's temple. "And you're the one who wants the frilly wedding."

"Not frilly. _Elegant_," Cam corrected.

"I never liked dolls much. I was the Easy Bake Oven type of girl," Lillian added. "I was always cramming my 'gourmet creations' down my family's throats. It was years before my younger brother would eat any cake at all 'cos he thought all cakes came from Easy Bake Ovens."

The movie all but forgotten, they continued to share stories of favourite and not-so-favourite gifts from childhood until the sound of the timer dinging in the kitchen interrupted their conversation.

"Almost time to pull the bird out of the oven," Caroline said excitedly as she stood and went to the kitchen.

Mag got up and stretched her arms above her head. "Well, I guess I should go help since I slept through all the preparations."

Cam and Josie stood up next. "I suppose we should start setting the table," Josie said as she pulled Cam toward the dining room table.

"We'll help you," Peter said as he and Lillian followed Cam and Josie.

Olivia looked at Alex. "What should we do?"

Leaning in to place a light kiss on Olivia's lips, Alex shrugged. "Seems like they've got everything under control. We can sit here and stare deeply into each other's eyes or something."

"I think I'm just gonna squeeze you and marvel at how well we fit together when we sit like this," Olivia offered.

Alex sighed contentedly. "I like that idea."

True to her word, Olivia squeezed Alex's waist tightly. "I like this. All of this."

"Me too. Everyone loves you, Liv. You're a Cabot family member now, like it or not."

"This is always how I pictured a family holiday. If I'd known they were this much fun I would have tried to get you to invite me years ago!" Olivia teased.

Laughing softly, Alex reached up and tucked Olivia's hair behind her ear. "They'll be expecting you at every family function from now on, so be ready for invitations to be extended for even the most ridiculous of holidays."

"Like The Cabot Family Arbor Day Picnic Extravaganza?"

"OK, maybe not the _most_ ridiculous of holidays, but if there's a greeting card for it, we celebrate it," Alex explained.

Olivia cocked her head to the side, pretending to look deep in thought. "Then I guess I should start thinking of an outfit to wear to the Secretary's Day Ball."

Alex rolled her eyes at her girlfriend. "Chuckle chuckle, Detective Benson," she added sarcastically. As she leaned in to kiss Olivia once more, the unexpected peal of the doorbell stopped her from reaching her goal. "I guess I should get that." She extricated herself from Olivia's lap and went to the front door. The rest of the family had left their tasks and were standing in the doorway to see who had arrived. As Alex opened the door slowly, she saw the pinched face of her grandmother staring back at her, with a sheepish looking man standing timidly behind her.

"Well, Alexandra, aren't you going to invite your grandmother and uncle inside? It's _freezing_ out here!" the old woman sneered. Alex stepped aside and let her family in the house and closed the door behind them. "It looks like everyone's already here," the old woman said as she looked at everyone crammed in the doorway. She pointed to Olivia. "Who's this, then?"

Alex stepped forward and stood next to the chair Olivia occupied. "This is my girlfriend, Olivia Benson. Olivia, this is my grandmother, Ivy Cabot."

Olivia stood and offered a hand to Ivy. She was determined to be cordial to the old woman no matter what. "Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Cabot."

Ivy hesitated in shaking Olivia's hand, but eventually did so. "Nice to meet you," she said quickly with an air of dismissal. When she released Olivia's hand, she turned to Alex. "Still no husband, I see."

"I don't _want_ a husband, Grandmother. I date _women_," Alex seethed.

Sensing an argument brewing, Caroline stepped out from the doorway and ushered her mother-in-law into the kitchen. "Why don't you help me and Mag get everything ready to put on the table?" She cast a quick glance over her shoulder and mouthed 'sorry' to Alex. Satisfied that there wouldn't be a multi-generational knock-down drag-out fight, Peter, Lillian, Josie, and Cam all went back to getting the table ready.

"I'm Eric Cabot, Alex and Josie's uncle," said the sheepish looking man, the embarrassment on his face fading. He shook Olivia's hand firmly and smiled at her. "I'm really sorry about all that. She's not very..._modern_."

"You mean she's _narrow __minded_," Alex interpreted.

"Now, Alex..." Eric tried to interject.

Alex held up a hand. "No. I've done everything that was expected of me. I was valedictorian in high school. I went to law school at Harvard and graduated summa cum laude. I fast tracked through the DA's office and work with a high profile unit and have an unheard of win/loss ratio, but none of that matters because to her I don't have a husband and a couple of kids."

"She's from a different generation, Alex," Eric tried to explain.

"Whatever. I'll be civil as long as she doesn't push my buttons," Alex conceded.

Nodding, Eric pointed to the kitchen. "I'm gonna see what they're up to in there." He turned and left the room.

Olivia put a hand on Alex's arm. "I'm sorry, baby."

"Why are you sorry? She's the one with the problem. Not us. Remember when I mentioned my bourgeois grandmother?" Olivia nodded. "That's her. She wasn't always like this. She's always been stern, but in the last ten years or so she's become something like a despot over this family."

Rubbing her hand up and down Alex's arm, Olivia stretched up to kiss Alex's cheek. "It's only dinner, Alex. Just ignore her as best you can and I'll be my usual charming self and hopefully the evening will pass without any fisticuffs."

"You're optimism is refreshing."

Cam, Josie, Peter, and Lillian came back into the living room with expectant looks on their faces. They had overheard the near altercation and wanted details.

"So you've met the formidable Ivy Cabot," Cam stated.

"I can handle her. I deal with much worse on a daily basis," Olivia shrugged. "If you don't mind my asking, why isn't she on Josie's case about being a lesbian?"

Josie grinned. "She says I take after my 'bohemian' mother."

Olivia gave her a questioning look. "Bohemian?"

"She was the bookkeeper at my father's law firm," Josie explained. "What a hippie!" she added sarcastically. "Grandmother hated that she had a job of her own and didn't have a full social calendar. Mom could never have been a trophy wife."

Eric stepped out of the kitchen with a tray full of dinner rolls, followed by Caroline with the bowl of mashed potatoes, then came Mag with the gravy. Ivy trailed behind the others with her nose turned up and her eyes narrowed as she looked at Alex and Olivia standing closely together. The brunette gave her most welcoming smile, while the blonde's expression remained impassive.

Peter and Lillian helped arrange everything on the table while Josie and Cam gave Olivia sympathetic looks and went into the kitchen to help bring the rest of dinner to the dining room. Alex stood motionless, radiating tension. Olivia put a hand on the small of her back and gently pushed her toward the table. Alex gave her girlfriend a tired smile as they pulled out their chairs and took their seats.

When everything but the turkey was on the table, Eric brought the turkey from the kitchen and placed it in the centre of the table. Cam, Josie, Olivia, and Alex were on one side of the rectangular table, with Caroline, Mag, Eric, and Ivy on the opposite side. Alex was not very excited that she was directly across from her grandmother, but Olivia was at her side, so she would draw from the detective's strength of character and seemingly endless charm.

Caroline looked around the table and held out her hands on either side. "Josie, would you like to say grace?"

As everyone took the hands next to them, Josie cleared her throat and bowed her head and closed her eyes. "Lord, thank you for the food we're about to eat, family and friends, and friends who are like family, and our husbands, wives, soon-to-be wives, and girlfriends. Amen." When she opened her eyes, she saw the smirks on everyone's faces. Well, everyone's faces except her grandmother and her uncle. Eric looked as if he wished he were anywhere other than next to his mother as his niece delivered a blessing meant to incense the old woman. And Ivy looked at her granddaughter as if God had entered the room and Josie had greeted him with a fist bump and asked 'What's up, dude?'

"Thank you, Josie. That was...um, spirited," Mag managed to say as she held in her laughter.

"Dig in!" Caroline announced as she stood up and began carving the turkey. Dishes were passed around and plates were being piled high with the usual Christmas dinner fare. When everyone had a full plate they all started eating.

No one said a word for quite a while until Ivy took a bite of the mashed potatoes. "These mashed potatoes are delicious! What did you add to them, Caroline?"

"It's goat cheese, marjoram, and thyme. Actually, it was Olivia who added the special ingredients."

Ivy frowned at the mention of Olivia's contribution. Alex bristled at her grandmother's reaction, while Olivia put a hand on the blonde's thigh under the table to try to get her to calm down. When Ivy had swallowed the bite she had just taken, she looked the detective in the eye. "So, Olivia, what do you do for a living?" Alex tensed up at the way the old woman said her girlfriend's name like a curse word. Olivia squeezed Alex's thigh and returned her hand to the table.

"I'm a detective with the NYPD," Olivia answered with ease. She was committed to not letting anything get to her. Given the fact that she deals with perps and low-lifes everyday, dealing with a cranky old lady would be a breeze.

A derisive _hm_ left Ivy's closed mouth. Olivia didn't take the bait, but Alex looked ready to skid across the table and throttle the Cabot matriarch. "What did your parents do, Olivia?" Alex's nostrils flared at the way Ivy spat out the syllables of Olivia's name. Everyone else at the table had the good sense to sit still and stay quiet, though each one of them was positing scenarios of how to intervene should it come to blows, and based on Alex's body language, they figured it just might.

Olivia didn't flinch. "My mother was an English Lit professor at Hudson University. She died about a year and a half ago." She was keenly aware of the looks the rest of the table were giving her, but she figured if she was going to be a part of Alex's life and this family for the long term (and that was her intention), the story of her parentage would come up sooner or later; she just didn't think it would come up so soon after meeting the majority of them for the first time.

"And what about your father?"

_Lie,__ Olivia! __Please __please__ please __don't __tell__ the__ truth.__ She__ doesn't__ need__ to __know! __PLEASE__ DON'T __SAY __IT!_ Alex's mind screamed.

Deep down, Olivia knew this question was coming. It was a logical step after having mentioned her mother and purposefully not mentioning a father. She felt Alex's hand grip her forearm as it rested on the table, but she never broke eye contact with Ivy Cabot. "I never knew my father."

The triumphant look on the old woman's face made Alex physically ill. The eyes of the other guests went even wider than they were before as Alex stood up so fast that her chair tipped over behind her. She leaned forward, placing her hands on the table to keep from falling, and put her face as close to her grandmother's as she could. "_Get_. _Out_," she growled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four, y'all! Just so you all don't give me more credit than I deserve, I borrowed the stories at the end of this chapter from various internet sources. I'm pretty creative, but I'm not _that_ good. As always, thank you for your continued readership. I love you all in a non-creepy manner. :)**

Olivia had seen Alex get angry before, but never on the brink of physical violence. The fact that Alex had essentially knocked over a chair and was currently leaning across the table to get in her grandmother's face made Olivia wonder exactly what would happen next. This was something she'd never seen from Alex before, so she could only watch the situation unfold along with the others.

When Ivy made no attempt to move, Alex growled again. "I said get out."

"Are you gonna let her talk to me that way, Caroline?" Ivy asked.

Caroline glanced at Olivia, and then looked at her mother-in-law with a hardened look on her face. "Yes, I am, because I happen to agree with her that you need to leave. You've been nothing but antagonistic toward Olivia since you got here, and I won't stand for that in my home."

Caroline stood up as Josie scooted closer to Olivia and put an arm protectively around her shoulders. "You need to leave right now, Ivy. I'm going to escort you out."

Ivy stood up as well. "I'm not going anywhere. I can't help it if you all have a problem with the truth. Alex deserves someone from a good family! Someone who can at least identify their father! She needs to stop bringing home _strays_," Ivy emphasised the last word as she narrowed her eyes at Olivia.

"I deserve someone who loves me and accepts me no matter what and in spite of the fact that I have an ignorant, old harpy as a grandmother!" Alex retorted, raising her voice. "Olivia, get our coats. We're not staying here and taking this abuse."

"We left the coats in the car," Olivia said meekly.

Alex furrowed her brow, then remembered that the coats were indeed in the back seat of the Mercedes. "Let's just go."

"Alex, stay right where you are," Caroline said in a warning tone. Alex looked at her mother and calmed down a bit as the older woman turned her attention to her mother-in-law. "I don't care if you approve of Alex's lifestyle or not. You need to respect her and Olivia if you're going to stay."

As if Caroline hadn't said anything, Ivy looked at Alex with fire in her eyes. "You know she's only after your money, right? I mean, she's a police officer. She makes no money and she comes from a questionable background. She's a gold digger, Alexandra!"

Olivia tried to keep the tears from falling, but as Alex's grandmother continued her tirade, it became impossible. She hung her head while hot tears splashed on the table in front of her. Ivy Cabot was treating Olivia like the trash she had always felt like. Alex had broken through the cycle of self-loathing and made Olivia proud of who she was and of her contributions to society. And now this woman was taking a jackhammer to the still fresh foundation she and Alex had built. Josie rubbed her hand up and down Olivia's arm in an effort to comfort her and kissed her temple.

Eric stood up and looked to his mother. "Come on, mother. I think we should just go."

"We'll leave when I'm ready, Eric. I still have a few more things to say," she addressed her son. Looking back to Alex, she shook her head. "If your grandfather was alive-"

"You wouldn't be acting like this," Alex finished for her. "All he wanted was for his family to be happy. Yeah, so he had a fortune, but he never let money change him. His father was a carpenter, which, if you'll recall, is who taught him everything he needed to know to build you a log cabin in Montauk. And he also passed on his compassion for others. He became a lawyer to help people and see that everyone had representation if they needed it regardless of their ability to pay. He just happened to make money through some wise investing decisions, but he was always a carpenter's son at heart. Gee, doesn't that sound like someone else we know? Carpenter's son, selfless, generous, kind to everyone no matter what their background?" She looked around the table and saw everyone nodding their agreement. "Grandfather would be appalled at your behaviour. Olivia could care less about my money. She wants to be with _me_, not my bank account. Her devotion to helping others makes me want to be a better person. She deserves love and adoration and I'm glad she chose me to be the one to give it to her." Alex reached behind her and righted her fallen chair. She sat down slowly, effectively ending her speech.

Josie let go of Olivia, who looked at Alex with gratitude etched on her face. "Thank you," she whispered. Alex reached out and pulled Olivia into a tight embrace.

"Well said, darling," Caroline smiled at Alex. Turning her attention to Ivy, she shook her head. "You're lucky my husband isn't here either. When Alex came out to us, she was so scared we'd be angry and disown her. Her father just looked at her and said, 'Whatever makes you happy, sweetheart', and gave her all the love and support he could until the day he died. All he ever wanted was for her to find someone who loved her and makes her happy for the rest of her life, and as far as I can tell, Olivia's that person. He would absolutely not sit here and let anyone, even his own mother, badmouth his only child and the woman she loves because you're so concerned about guarding the family fortune. If you don't stop worrying about the money, you're gonna die alone because you alienated all your family."

Ivy looked at Eric. "Come on. We're leaving." Eric pushed his chair backward and put a hand on his mother's arm as he guided them away from the table. The front door slammed; the sound echoing throughout the house.

Caroline sat back down and pulled her napkin across her lap. She looked at Olivia, who had just pulled away from Alex and was sitting stiffly in her chair. "Olivia, I am so incredibly sorry for all that. She just doesn't know when to leave well enough alone."

"It's OK," Olivia said in a dismissive tone.

"No, it's not. You came here to meet Alex's family and have a nice Christmas dinner, not to be attacked." She gestured around the table. "Nobody here cares about where you come from beyond the fact that your experiences shaped you into the person my daughter loves so much. We're glad to have met you and I hope you know you're welcome here any time."

Another set of tears escaped Olivia's eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "I don't even know what to say. Thanks for defending me, but I'm sorry I caused a rift between you and your family."

"Nonsense. She just needs time to realise that she's in the wrong here. And Eric will try to talk some sense into her. As much of a 'yes man' as he seems, he knows she was out of line and he'll work on getting her to come around. And as for defending you, it's what family does. I know we're a little unconventional, but I consider everyone at this table family, regardless of actual DNA relation. I love you all and I hope your holiday hasn't been ruined. Dinner's probably pretty cold by now, so the microwave is available to anyone who wants to use it." When no one made a move to get up and reheat their plates, she smiled. "That's what I love about you all. None of you think twice about eating a cold Christmas dinner."

Peter, Lillian, Josie, Cam, and Mag all chuckled and began to eat dinner again. It was still a quiet affair, but the tension had been removed from the situation so everyone was relaxed.

As everyone finished eating, they worked together to quickly clear the table, put the leftovers in the refrigerator and get all the dishes done. When everything had been done, they once again retired to the living room.

Peter, Lillian, Cam and Josie were once again on the sofa, while Mag and Caroline seated themselves on the love seat after Caroline stoked the fire and Mag had turned the radio on, which left Olivia and Alex the overstuffed chair. This time around Alex had Olivia settled on her lap, holding her close and placing light kisses wherever she could reach.

The sounds of Silver Bells came from the speakers and Olivia sighed in contentment. "This is my favourite Christmas song," she said quietly.

"And why's that?" Alex asked.

"Because I like the image it makes in my mind. I love Manhattan when it's all decorated for Christmas. What's your favourite?"

Caroline spoke up before Alex got the chance to reply. "Alex has always been partial to Jingle Bells. Right, Alex?" she asked her daughter with a playful edge to her voice.

Olivia looked at Caroline, then to Mag and Josie, who all had devilish grins on their faces. When she looked back to Alex, the blonde was staring daggers at her mother. "Not really," she said through clenched teeth.

"I'm sensing there's a story here," Olivia said.

Alex huffed. "In third grade my class had to sing Jingle Bells at the Christmas assembly. I asked if I could be in the front row so my parents could see me, the whole time knowing I was going to sing the 'Jingle bells, Batman smells' version. So I sang, rather _screamed_, my version and was immediately suspended after the assembly."

Olivia snickered. "That sounds like something Josie would do."

"Who do you think gave her the idea?" Josie laughed.

"Why is it always 'tell embarrassing stories about Alex' time every time we get together?" Alex joked.

"Because you spend all day being stoic and serious in the courtroom and we just need to remind ourselves that you're not the ice queen you portray," Olivia explained. "Drunkenly shoving a cupcake in Abbie Carmichael's face is about as opposite of ice queen as you can get in my opinion. It's nice to know that the perfect Alexandra Cabot has human moments just like everyone else."

Peter leaned forward and looked directly at Alex. "If it makes you feel any better I've got a few stories that are pretty embarrassing." Cam's face lit up, but she said nothing. Alex looked amenable to the idea of hearing stories from other people, so Peter continued. "I was about ten and we went to the pumpkin patch with Cam, who was around eight. We wanted to drive the tractors. Cam got on one and drove just fine, while I had trouble controlling the tractor and drove it straight into one of the fences. There was a big crowd watching and laughing, and the attendant wouldn't let me finish. I was mortified." Everyone burst into laughter.

"I remember that. You were so embarrassed you didn't even go pick out a pumpkin. You just sat in the car and pouted," Cam added. "It's a good thing you work on fishing boats and didn't become a farmer!"

Peter rolled his eyes at his sister. "This isn't exactly embarrassing per se, but it's the story my parents always told when we had Thanksgiving dinner at out house."

"They told me this story the very first time I met them," said Lillian. "It was like, 'Hi, I'm Peter's mom, that guy over there's his dad, you've met his sister Camilla, now sit down because we have a story to share with you.' It's a good one!"

Blushing slightly, Peter took a deep breath. "It was in second grade and the teacher told us the story of the Mayflower and how the pilgrims toiled with poor living conditions on the ride over. I still have no idea why, but one of the things in the story was that they had to pee off the side of the boat, so when it came time to draw a picture of the Mayflower voyage, I drew a pilgrim, 'manhood' in hand, peeing over the side of the boat. It made its way to the wall for like 3 days before my teacher realised it. I had to erase the penis and draw a zipper instead. Like the pilgrims had zippers. How inaccurate."

"That's pretty good, Peter. I do feel better now. Thank you," Alex giggled.

"I have no idea how old I was, but I was pretty young. I was in the car with my mom in the summer and the windows were rolled down. We rolled up to a stop light and saw that the lady in the car next to us had this huge ugly hat on, which my mom commented on. I proceeded to yell out the window, 'Hey, lady, my mom thinks you have an ugly hat!' My mom turned redder than the red light we were at and then sped off as soon as the light changed," Josie shared.

"When I was four I stuck a button up my nose to see how it would be to breathe through the little holes," Mag offered.

Olivia grinned. "And how was it?"

"It didn't go as well as I thought it would. I asked Caroline, who was six at the time, to help me get it out, but she couldn't get it so I started screaming because I thought it was gonna be up there for the rest of my life. Our mother came in the room to see what was going on and Caroline marched right up to her and said, 'Mother, Magdalen stuck a button up her nose.' I got taken to the doctor, who used the biggest pair of tweezers I'd ever seen to pull it out. It hurt like hell and there was blood everywhere."

Caroline hugged her sister from the side. "You were a trooper, Mag."

"Well, I decided that getting the button out was infinitely better than having it up my nose for eternity, so anything that helped remove it was OK by me. Nothing went in my nose ever again. I'd learned my lesson." Mag nodded definitively**.**

**You can all thank _flying_tree_ on Twitter (I have no idea who she is on this site) for the idea of embarrassing stories from Alex's childhood. Stay tuned for more Adventures of Little Alex.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I feel like I should explain why in the hell this took ages to get to you all. I've been in the midst of a deep depression that is finally getting better. Work sucks. Family sucks. Friends suck. And I have no idea exactly where my current relationship stands (long-distance relationships are so difficult!). Anyway, enough of my crap, here's some more Cabot family fluff for you all. I must admit that I feel kind of bad making you all wait for this pretty anti-climactic chapter, but you might like it, and if you don't, please don't go too hard on me. I'm a little fragile these days.**

"Well, Aunt Mag, as fascinating as hearing all about the insertion and removal of a button from your nose is, I would like to ask if anyone saved room for dessert?" Cam asked.

Lillian smiled and nodded. "I could use a piece of pumpkin bread and some pie."

Peter poked his wife in the side. "Jeez, Lil, save some dessert for the rest of us!"

"Relax, Peter. We brought enough for everyone to indulge themselves, or even overindulge if they feel like it," Josie explained.

"In that case, I want one of each!" Lillian said excitedly.

Josie stood up. "OK, so Lillian wants the 'sample platter', what about everyone else?"

Everyone put in their requests, and as Josie headed to the kitchen to plate them up, Olivia got up from Alex's lap. "I'll help you."

As soon as both women were in the kitchen, Josie grabbed the pastry boxes and put them on the centre island. "Plates are in that cupboard right there," she said as she pointed to the cabinet above the stove.

Olivia grabbed a stack of small plates and put them next to the pink boxes. She started plating up pieces of pie, cupcakes, pumpkin bread, and brownies, while Josie was getting the ice cream out of the freezer.

"I know Aunt Caroline apologised already, but I feel like I should say something too. I'm so sorry you had to deal with our witch of a grandmother. We should have warned you that she was probably gonna show up."

"It's not your fault, Josie, but thank you. And thanks for making me feel better while she was going on and on," Olivia replied with a sad smile.

Josie smiled brightly in return. "She's always been hard on Alex to be the perfect Cabot. She was the one who was supposed to make it to the governor's mansion. Grandmother had her whole life planned for her, but we both know Alex doesn't like to be told what to do. As far as Grandmother's concerned, Alex won't amount to anything if she doesn't have some ridiculously successful man to come home to. She still thinks this lesbianism thing is a phase and Alex'll snap out of it as soon as she meets the right man."

Olivia nodded as she took Josie's words in. "I just don't get why she can't be proud of Alex as she is."

"We don't get it either. According to her, I'm a failure because I went to culinary school and didn't follow family tradition and become a lawyer; nevermind the fact that I own a successful business. She tolerates Cam and Peter because their father was a doctor and their mother was as much of a socialite as one could be living in Montauk. She spent summers rubbing elbows with the rich city folk who flooded the town and had connections," Josie explained. "If our grandfather was still alive, he wouldn't let her be the dragon lady she's turned into. He was rich but humble. He made sure his family was provided for and was happy. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do if someone needed help. Our great grandfather was a hard worker and instilled traditional values in his children. Grandfather loved me and Alex no matter what, and just wanted us to grow up to be kind, well rounded people."

"I wonder what happened to change Ivy."

Josie shrugged. "After Grandfather died, she started to get protective of the family money, and she suddenly focused her attention on Alex's career."

As Josie spoke her cousin's name, Alex walked into the room. "What's the hold up? You've been in here forever! Look! That apple pie a la mode is all melted!"

Josie and Olivia looked at each other, shrugged, and then burst out laughing. "We were just chatting," Olivia stated.

"Well, chat while you get desserts ready. Those animals in the other room are getting restless," Alex said sternly.

"Yes, boss," Olivia mocked.

Alex looked at her girlfriend with narrowed eyes, but she also had a smile on her face. "Keep that up, detective, and someone's gonna be sleeping alone tonight."

"C'mon, Josie! Let's get these desserts out!" Olivia shouted and plated up cupcakes and brownies as fast as she could. Alex leaned in and kissed her on the cheek and then went back to the living room. Olivia sighed and a dopey grin broke out on her face.

Josie was scooping new, unmelted ice cream onto the slices of pie and looked up at Olivia. "You guys are so cute together. I know it's only been official for a couple of weeks, but you look like you've been together forever. She loves you so much."

"I know. I love her too. I guess I never figured I'd find someone who loves me and puts up with my moods and calls me out on my bullshit. She gets me. She saw past the wall I put up to keep people from getting to close and wanted to know everything about me," the detective recalled.

"Cabots are good judges of character. We know quality people when we see them," Josie said, winking at Olivia.

"You're grandmother doesn't think I'm quality people," Olivia pointed out sadly.

"She's only a Cabot by marriage." Josie picked up three plates, balancing them effortlessly. "OK, let's get these out of here." Olivia picked up the three remaining plates and carefully followed Josie out of the kitchen.

Peter and Lillian let out a cheer when they saw the plates and got up to help distribute the desserts. "Man, are we glad to see you! There was talk of sending in a search party!" Peter joked.

"Oh, hush, Peter. You get to clean up because you'll need to work off some of the calories you're about to eat," Josie admonished.

Peter rolled his eyes. "I'll need every calorie I ate today to keep me warm at work at 5am."

Soon everyone was happily eating their chosen desserts and the only sounds in the room were the sounds of forks scraping plates, moans of appreciation, and the Christmas music playing quietly in the background. Peter and Lillian collected the dishes and set about washing them.

Olivia turned to Alex, whose lap she was once again sitting on, and asked, "If I have a cupcake, you won't smash it in my face, will you?"

Alex tilted her head to the side. "That depends. Are you going to keep shouting 'Don't mess with Texas' over and over again?"

"I think I can refrain for as long as it'll take me to finish off a cupcake," Olivia deadpanned.

"Then by all means enjoy one!"

Carefully extracting herself from Alex's lap, she went to the kitchen and quickly returned with a perfect looking cupcake. She didn't sit back down, instead standing next to the chair. As she started to unwrap the cupcake, Alex looked up at her and asked, "Hey, can I have a bite of that?"

"Yeah, sure." Olivia lowered the cupcake so it was level with Alex's face and then smooshed it against her girlfriend's mouth and chin. The unexpectedness of Olivia's actions and the look of surprise on Alex's face made everyone laugh.

Caroline jumped up from the love seat. "Let me get the camera!" She hurried down the hallway as Peter and Lillian ran in from the kitchen to see what was going on. When they saw Alex with frosting all over her face, they laughed too.

Alex looked up at Olivia, trying to keep a straight look on her face, but she failed. She saw the 'what?' look on the detective's face followed by a shrug and laughed out loud.

Caroline came back in the room with her camera and stood in front of her daughter and Olivia. "OK, Olivia, get closer to Alex." Olivia did as instructed, perching on the arm rest and leaning sideways so their heads were level with each other. "On three. One...two...three!"

When her mother said three, Alex turned her head and kissed Olivia's cheek, smearing frosting on the side of her face as she did so. The shutter clicked and captured the bewildered look on the detective's face and the mischievous glint in Alex's eyes. The rest of the room erupted in laughter yet again. "Oh, Liv, what am I gonna do with you," Alex asked as she wiped the frosting from her face with a napkin.

"Keep me forever and ever," Olivia answered with a huge grin as she used a napkin to wipe her own face.

"That was great, Olivia. She never even saw that coming!" Mag chuckled.

Alex smiled at her aunt and wiped the last of the icing from her chin. "Liv loves mischief and surprising people. Dontcha, Liv?"

Olivia winked at her girlfriend. "I definitely do. When I was in college I worked in the campus coffee shop and sometimes at night when I was closing up, I'd set the timers for the coffee brewers to go off a couple of minutes after the openers arrived and hide 'em all over the place. The morning crew had to be there at 5am to get everything set up, and three minutes after five there's a timer going off in the pastry cupboard. A minute after that there's one going off in one of the coffee urns. Two minutes after that one's beeping in the backroom on the shelf with all the bags of espresso, and so on until they were all found. Most of the openers had a good sense of humour about it, but some didn't like stumbling around half awake trying to make the beeping stop."

Josie grinned. "I'd think it was hilarious. Even at 5am."

"At 5am, we've already been up for two hours," Cam pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. It's still funny," Josie shrugged.

"There was also the time I filled Elliot's desk drawers with those springy snakes. Ya know, the ones that come in the can labeled 'peanut brittle'? He pulled his gun on them when they sprang out!" Olivia dissolved into a giggle fit at the memory.

"I wish I could have seen that!" Alex lamented.

When she recovered from laughing so hard, Olivia continued. "The best part was I filled all three of his drawers with them, so he just kept opening them and all these things were jumping out at him. He was kind of mad at first, but eventually he thought it was funny."

"Who's Elliot?" Peter asked.

"He's my partner at work. We see a lot of terrible things in our line of work, so we have to laugh and have a little fun with each other when we can."

Lillian and Peter went back to the kitchen and finished the dishes while everyone else settled back into their seats and enjoyed the feeling of being full of dessert. A few moments later they returned to the living room and grabbed their jackets from the coat rack next to the door.

Caroline stood up from the loveseat. "Are you leaving already?"

"Yeah. Peter has to work at 5am and I'm on call for the swing shift," Lillian answered.

"Believe me. I'd much rather stay here and not freeze halfway to death out in the net sheds, but someone's gotta do it," Peter said as he pulled his puffy down parka on.

The rest of the guests stood up and moved to the door to say goodbye to Peter and Lillian.

"So when am I gonna see you two next?" Mag asked as she gave bone crushing hugs to the pair.

"Come out any time. We would love to have you over! That goes for all of you." Lillian pointed around the room to indicate everyone. "And that especially applies to you, Olivia and Alex."

Olivia stepped up and hugged Lillian, while Alex hugged Peter. "I don't know about Alex, but I would love to come visit. I haven't been to Boston in years."

Alex released Peter and switched to hug Lillian as Olivia hugged Peter. "Alex would love to visit along with Olivia."

"I'll even take you out on our boat!" Peter exclaimed.

Lillian rolled her eyes. "Now you've done it. He gets so excited about taking people out on the boat because I'm tired of going out on it all the time."

"You can take me out on your boat any time," Olivia assured him with a wink.

Lillian reached for the doorknob and opened the front door. "Well, we better hit the road."

The group all followed out to the porch and stood huddled together as they watched Peter and Lillian get in their Subaru. Lillian blew kisses before putting the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. Peter stuck his nose up against the window to make a pig face. Cam gave her brother a thumbs up and everyone laughed when they saw Lillian smack his arm as they drove off down the street. As the car turned the corner, everyone went back inside to stand in front of the fireplace to warm up.

Alex tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn, which did not go unnoticed by Olivia. "Awwww, somebody's tired," she cooed at her girlfriend.

"And you're not?" Alex murmured sleepily as her mom and aunt straightened up the living room, and Josie and Cam settled against each other on the corner of the sofa.

Olivia wrapped her arms loosely around Alex's waist and shrugged. "I am, but I feel like the sooner we go to bed the sooner we'll wake up and then we have to go home. But if you're going to bed, I want to snuggle with you," she said sweetly.

Alex looked around from her mother to Josie and Cam, who were wrapped around each other with drooping eyelids. "Looks like those two are falling asleep too, so we can go get ready for bed."

"The guest room's ready for you girls whenever you want," Caroline explained. "Josie and Cam offered to sleep on the air mattress in there so you can take the bed."

"Thanks, guys, but that's not necessary," Olivia offered. "We'd be perfectly happy on the air mattress."

Cam perked up. "We don't mind at all. In fact, it reminds us of this one time when we went camping and Josie did this thing-"

Josie's hand shot up to cover her fiancé's mouth. "Not in front of the old women! I don't know if their hearts can handle the description of such...um...intimate activities."

Caroline snorted. "Oh, please, Josephine. I have heard things come out of your mouth that would make a sailor blush, but thanks for trying to preserve our innocence."

"Innocence. HA!" Mag laughed.

"Don't you say one more word, Magdalen. These girls don't need to hear about us in our sexual prime."

"Now I'm gonna have nightmares about my mom having sex," Alex whined and buried her face in Olivia's shoulder.

Rubbing her hands up and down Alex's back, Olivia chuckled. "OK, Peaches, let's get you in your jammies and into bed."

**Also, since I just spent so much time feeling like my heart had been run through a blender, my next fic is gonna be all angsty and stuff. The only upside to spending hours in bed with no motivation to do anything or talk to anyone is that my brain kept on drawing parallels to sad times for the characters on SVU and Rizzoli and Isles. I'm gonna make them CRY.**


	6. Chapter 6

**OK, MASSIVE author's note before I lead you into the longest and final chapter of the redux.**

**First off, let me just say that you all are the best therapy for depression I've ever experienced. Things are finally manageable again, and a lot of that is because of your kind words and positive thoughts. **

**Secondly, I would like to send a shout out to my friend Rachel, whose band Visqueen played its final slow last Sunday. I had seen them play 20 times and while I understand the need to move on, I'm still kind of sad. Cam is based on Rachel, and Visqueen's drummer Ben is the inspiration for Peter. I figured Rachel and Ben have a sibling-like relationship, so I'll draw from people I know. Rest in peace, Visqueen. You've rocked me more than you'll ever know.**

**And finally, thank you for your continued readership. I could write all this and keep it to myself, but it's the reactions from people like you that make sharing it so much fun. I hope I made you happy with this latest cabinverse installment, and the good news is that I've already got another cabinverse fic idea rattling around in my head. And there is no bad news, so it's win-win.**

**Finally part two, I didn't proof read this very well, so I apologise in advance if I screwed up. You're all very bright and hopefully can figure out what I meant if I did.**

Olivia took the keys and went to the car to get the bags while Alex, Josie, and Cam got the guest room ready. Caroline and Mag were turning everything off and locking up.

When Olivia came back into the house, she was greeted by Caroline standing next to the door. "I just wanted to see if you needed anything before you turn in for the night."

"I think we've got everything we need, but thanks for asking." Olivia smiled as Caroline put her arm around her shoulders as they walked down the hall toward the bedrooms.

"If you change your mind, just ask. We want to make sure you're comfortable here," Caroline said as they stopped in front of the door to the guest room. She gave Olivia a squeeze before releasing her.

The look of kindness and concern in the older woman's eyes made Olivia start to tear up. "Thank you," she said quietly, trying to keep the shakiness caused by trying to hold back tears out of her voice. "This is the best Christmas I've ever had."

Caroline looked at her with a a slightly bemused expression. "Really? Getting belittled by your girlfriend's grandmother makes this the best Christmas ever?"

Shrugging, Olivia decided just to explain why even getting verbally abused by Ivy Cabot still made this a wonderful holiday. "I'm the product of my mother's rape and she became an abusive alcoholic to cope with my existence. Christmas was another excuse for her to get smashed at the bar and come home and-" she cut herself off before getting into the ugly details. "I was just happy if the day passed without too much trouble."

Much like Alex had reacted while Olivia explained her life story at the cabin, Caroline didn't freak out or show pity. Instead she smiled warmly at Olivia and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It doesn't matter to me how you got here. You don't deserve to be judged for things that were beyond your control. I know Alex would do anything for you, as would the rest of this family. We take care of our own."

As a tear streaked down Olivia's cheek, she smiled an embarrassed smile at Caroline because she had couldn't find the words to form a response. Her heart felt like it would burst from joy and she just continued to smile as the door opened and Alex appeared behind them.

"Liv! Did you drive back to Manhattan to get our pyjamas?" She saw her mother and Olivia looking like they were sharing an emotional moment, so she quickly changed her tone. "Um...I'll just be brushing my teeth if you need me."

"Don't go. We were just saying goodnight," Olivia said, never taking her eyes off Caroline.

Caroline leaned in and kissed Olivia's cheek. "Goodnight, dear." She stepped over to Alex and did the same. "Goodnight, Alex," she said quietly and headed to her bedroom.

Alex closely regarded Olivia's face, noting the slight red of her eyes and the rapidly drying track of a tear on her cheek. She took Olivia's hand, bent down to grab the bags in the other hand as she pulled her through the doorway with Olivia kicking the door shut behind them.

The bed had been turned down and the air mattress on the floor was made up with several quilts and pillows. Josie and Cam were finishing up in the bathroom as Alex put the bags on the bed and took out what they'd need for the night.

"It's all yours," Josie said as she and Cam came out of the bathroom. When Alex and Olivia had gone in and closed the door, Josie turned to Cam and whispered, "Wanna mess with 'em?"

Cam's face took on a mischievous look. "You know it!" she whispered back.

When Alex and Olivia had both changed into their pyjamas, Olivia brushed her teeth while Alex washed her face. Hearing the sounds coming from behind the closed door, they stopped what they were doing and looked at each other quizzically.

"OH, CAM! THIS IS JUST LIKE THAT CAMPING TRIP! TAKE ME, YOU RED HEADED BEAST!"

Next they heard an exaggerated moan from Cam, followed by what sounded like bare skin squeaking across the surface of the air mattress. Olivia pointed to the door and made an air-humping gesture at Alex, who put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"I LOVE IT WHEN YOU BITE MY NIPPLES!" Cam shouted.

Both Alex and Olivia were trying hard to keep quiet. They knew that the whole exchange was most likely for their entertainment, but that didn't mean they couldn't play along.

Olivia rinsed her toothbrush and put it back in the case as Alex stood next to the door. "OLIVIA, I LOVE IT WHEN YOU TOUCH ME THERE!" She paused to see if there would be a reaction, but when she heard nothing, she decided to keep going. "YOU'VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE! WHERE'D YOU LEARN THAT?"

"DO ME IN THE SHOWER! I WANNA FEEL YOUR WARM FRONT PRESSING ME AGAINST THE COLD TILES!" Olivia added.

Alex had an idea. "I NEED TO BE ARRESTED, DETECTIVE. DON'T FORGET TO HANDCUFF ME."

Olivia gave her girlfriend a thumbs up. "YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SEXY. ANYTHING YOU SHOUT DURING CLIMAX CAN AND WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU IN BED OR BENT OVER THE DESK IN YOUR OFFICE."

"I'VE BEEN VERY NAUGHTY THIS YEAR," Josie said loudly.

"HOW NAUGHTY?" Cam asked.

"LET ME SHOW YOU," Josie growled before the sounds of furniture repeatedly banging against the walls drifted into the bathroom.

The knock on the bedroom door startled Cam and Josie. Josie tentatively opened the door as Alex and Olivia exited the bathroom. Caroline and Mag stood in the hallway clapping.

"Sorry to interrupt the _festivities_, but one of us had to get up at 5am to get everything ready for today and she's exhausted," Caroline said with a sly smile as she took in the blushes on everyone's faces.

"Excellent show, girls. It was like an old radio show, but X rated," Mag stated.

Alex nodded slowly. "I, um...think we're...uh...done for the evening." She turned to look at Olivia. "We should get to sleep too. Need rest to drive back tomorrow," she finished lamely.

Caroline winked at her daughter. "Goodnight, girls. Sleep well." She closed the door and left everyone looking sheepishly at each other. A minute or so later, they all burst out laughing.

"You guys are gross, you know that?" Alex pointed at her cousin.

"Oh, please! Olivia's freaky Miranda rights made me uncomfortable in ways I've never been before!" Cam replied.

Olivia grinned widely and took a bow. "Thank you."

Alex punched Josie playfully on the arm. "Red headed beast, huh?"

"You don't even know!" Josie purred, earning a glare from Cam. "Get her all hot and bothered and she's like an untamed-" A pale, freckled hand suddenly covered her mouth.

"That's enough, Josie. Show's over," Cam chided her fiancee before slowly removing her hand.

"TIGER!" Josie finished before tackling Cam onto the air mattress and wrestling her as they both giggled hysterically.

Alex and Olivia both laughed and went back in the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed, leaving the door open this time.

When they returned to the bedroom, Josie and Cam were snuggled together under the covers looking sleepy. Olivia crawled into bed as Alex turned out the light and joined her. They settled into a spooning position (Alex taking the big spoon role) and sighed dreamily as they settled in.

The silence surrounded them for a beat, then Josie's voice broke it. "Now who's gross? '_I love you, Olivia! I love you too, Alex! Smoochy smoochy!_'" she mocked.

Olivia laughed. "We didn't even say any of that!"

Cam piped up. "You didn't have to. Your sweet sigh said it for you."

Rolling her eyes even though she couldn't be seen, Alex let out a frustrated sigh. "Go to sleep, you two. You can mock our relationship in the morning...preferably after I've had coffee and can formulate a witty retort."

"We love you both...even if you are sappy as hell," Cam offered.

"We love you, too," Olivia said. "And don't have sex on that air mattress, OK? Those tiger claws might puncture it and there's not enough room in this bed for all four of us." Alex and Josie laughed, while Cam made a _humph_ sound.

###

When Olivia woke up the next morning, she noticed that their sleeping position had changed and she was now the big spoon to Alex's little spoon. The blonde was still asleep and Olivia savoured the feel of the woman in her arms. She listened carefully for sounds of Josie and Cam, but heard nothing. Not wanting to break the spell, she laid there for a few more minutes until Alex began to stir.

Alex woke up to the feeling of Olivia's body enveloping her as much as was possible. She felt Olivia nuzzling the exposed skin on her neck and shoulders and pulled their joined hands to her mouth to kiss Olivia's knuckles as a thank you for the affection. "Good morning, Liv."

"Good morning, baby. How'd you sleep?"

Alex turned over in Olivia's embrace and stroked the detective's soft cheek. "The same way I always do when I sleep with you: perfectly."

"Glad to hear it," Olivia whispered and leaned in to place a soft kiss on Alex's lips. "I think Josie and Cam are up already, so we should probably get up too."

"Those two wake up at 3am no matter what." Alex stretched out in a cat-like manner before tossing back the covers. "Come on. I smell coffee."

Arriving in the kitchen with bed head and bare feet, Alex and Olivia headed straight for the coffee pot and poured two mugs full of the gourmet blend that Caroline always stocked up on. Josie and Cam were leaning against the counter sipping their own mugs of coffee while Caroline and Mag worked on cooking breakfast.

"Morning, girls," Caroline chirped as she flipped pancakes on the skillet.

"G'morning, mom," Alex said as she passed behind her mother to lean against the counter next to Josie and Cam.

"Pancakes OK with everyone?" Caroline asked.

Olivia smiled and nodded. "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm more than OK with pancakes."

"Good," Mag said and then winked at Olivia. She placed a plate stacked high with golden brown pancakes on the centre island next to a dish of butter and a syrup decanter.

"There's orange juice in the fridge if you'd like. Everybody help yourselves. Breakfast is informal this morning," Caroline said as she turned off the stove and took the utensils to the sink.

One by one they filed into the living room with their plates and beverages. Everyone was happily eating when there was a knock on the front door.

Caroline put her plate on the end table and stood up. "I'm not expecting anyone." She opened the door to see Ivy standing on the porch. "Hello, Ivy," she said evenly.

"May I come in?" the old woman asked.

Caroline took note of the tone of her voice. It wasn't anywhere near the adversarial demeanour she had come in with the day before. Caroline wasn't sure what was going on, but she wasn't going to let Ivy berate anyone and no more feelings would be hurt if she could help it. Opening the door wide enough to let her mother-in-law pass through, she stepped aside and Ivy entered the living room.

Alex immediately put her plate down and stood up. "Come to put Olivia down some more? Well, we're not gonna take it. Get back on your broom and fly on home."

Ivy pursed her lips. "I deserve that." She was clearly uncomfortable, but she knew this had to be done. "Alex, Olivia, can I speak to you two alone?"

Shaking her head no, Alex looked at her grandmother like she'd grown a second head. "No, you can't. You didn't have a problem saying anything in front of everyone yesterday, so you can say whatever it is you've got to say in front of everyone today."

Caroline moved to stand next to Alex, while Olivia shrank back into the sofa cushions. Josie and Cam balanced their plates on their knees and watched as the formidable Ivy Cabot looked like she wanted to disappear.

"OK. I came to apologise. I was grievously out of line yesterday and I'm sorry. Olivia, I have no right to judge you for any reason. It's clear how much my granddaughter loves you and I should be overjoyed that she's finally found someone who makes her happy. It's wonderful that you do such a thankless job and try to make the world a better place. Without you, Alexandra wouldn't have a job." She smiled Alex, whose hardened look had given way to one of confusion. "And Alex, I need to apologise to you not just for last night, but for the last several years. You were right to point out how your grandfather would be appalled by my behaviour."

Alex put up a hand to signal for her grandmother to pause. "What brought this on? Yesterday you hated us all for not living up to your expectations and today you're here with your tail between your legs begging for our forgiveness?" she asked, getting progressively angrier as she spoke.

"I thought about you comparing your grandfather to Jesus as Eric drove me home. And he also pointed out that it was a pretty accurate comparison. I loved him so much, Alex. You're a lot like him, you know. I read some of the letters he wrote me when we first started dating and remembered exactly why I fell in love with him. My parents weren't exactly thrilled that I wanted to date a labourer's son. He didn't come from much, but he shared what he had with people who needed it more. He had a strong work ethic and even when he made his fortune, he retained his humility. He was always a carpenter's son at heart."

By this time, Josie had tears streaming down her face. She adored her grandfather and he adored her. Caroline and Mag both had tear filled eyes. Alex's anger had drained to near non-existence. She had seen the pain her grandmother was in as she described her relationship with her deceased husband.

Ivy took a shuddering breath to try to steady herself. "He built me that cabin with his own two hands. He said it was to impress me, but he really meant that it was to try to win favour with my parents. I thanked him, of course, but I told him he didn't have to impress me with building me anything. He'd already impressed me with his heart."

Now everyone in the room was crying. Olivia had stood up and put her arm around Alex's waist, pulling her close to her side. Mag used a napkin to dab the tears from the corners of her eyes. Caroline swiped at the tears as they rolled down her cheeks, and Alex was smiling as tried to blink her tears back.

"I know I've been hard on you, Alex. Pushing you to a political career and demanding excellence. I saw a lot of myself in you and I wanted you to have the career I was supposed to have, according to my parents. It was a different time back then, and women weren't much more than nurses and secretaries if they had a career outside the home. They wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer. I defied them by marrying your grandfather. I hated how it felt to have someone plan your life for you regardless of what you desire, and I did the same thing to you, Alex. And you too, Josie. You own your own business and you do what you love. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Ivy Cabot broke down and cried.

The first person to hug Ivy was Alex. There was no hesitation in the four steps it took Alex to get to her grandmother. Olivia was the second person to hug Ivy. She threw her arms around her girlfriend and the old woman and squeezed for all she was worth. In a matter of seconds, the rest of the family had gotten in on the hug. They stood as a conglomeration of arms and mingling tears of forgiveness in the middle of the living room.

When everyone broke apart, Caroline patted Ivy on the back. "Thank you for coming today. I know that was hard for you. No hard feelings, OK?" Ivy nodded. "Would you like some pancakes? We have plenty left over."

"No, thank you. I should get going. My conscience wouldn't let me rest and I had to come here before I lost my nerve." Ivy turned to go to the door, but just before she reached for the door knob, a hand reached out and took hold of her wrist.

"Thank you. I hope I'll see you again," Olivia said softly to the old woman.

Ivy smiled and put her hand over Olivia's. "You will, dear. You will." And with that, Ivy opened the door and left the house.

"I could be snide and liken that to A Christmas Carol, but I won't," Alex said as she and Olivia settled back onto the sofa.

"I think that's pretty much what happened from the sounds of it," Caroline mused. "She shot her mouth off, went home, was visited by ghosts in a manner of speaking, saw how bleak the future would be if she didn't change her attitude, and had a change of heart."

"Wait, would that make me Tiny Tim?" Olivia joked.

###

When breakfast was finished and the dishes were in the dishwasher, everyone set out to get dressed for the day. Alex and Olivia packed their bags and staged them next to the door. Once again everyone was hanging out in the living room.

"Thanks again for inviting me. I know I keep saying that, but I really am thankful for all you've done for me. You're such an accepting group of people," Olivia said.

"The pleasure was all ours, Olivia," Mag replied. "We wouldn't do well if we weren't so accepting. Deep down, we're all a little different, as you probably have noticed," she added with a smirk.

Cam winked at the detective. "Josie and I put in a good word on your behalf before you got here."

"It's just...you're OK with Alex being a lesbian and being a public servant when she could have a rich banker husband and be a high powered attorney in private practice."

Alex put a hand on Olivia's thigh. "But I don't want any of that. I want _you_ and I love my work with SVU."

"Besides," Caroline interjected, "we knew Alex was gay probably before she even realised it herself."

"Really?" Alex and Olivia said in unison.

Caroline shrugged. "Yeah. When she was five her favourite movie was Mary Poppins. She told me she was gonna marry Julie Andrews."

"I remember that! You didn't tell me that girls couldn't marry girls; you said, 'Honey, I think she's already married.'"

Olivia grinned widely at Alex. "That is so adorable."

"We just wanted Alex to be happy with who she is and go after what she wants," Caroline stated. "Life's short so why deny your pursuit of happiness and fulfilment to please someone else?"

"My sentiments exactly," Alex said as she leaned over to kiss Olivia's cheek. The brunette blushed slightly.

Josie looked at her watch. "What time do you guys have to head out?"

Checking her watch as well, Olivia scrunched up her face with displeasure. "Pretty soon. I really don't wanna leave," she whined.

"You can come out here any time you like," Caroline pointed out. "We don't need a holiday as an excuse to get together."

Alex and Olivia stood up and headed toward the door. Josie and Cam followed, with Caroline and Mag bringing up the rear.

"And this goes without saying, but you're welcome at our place any time, too," Josie pointed out.

Olivia hugged Alex's cousin. "Thanks, guys." She then hugged Cam and Mag. When she pulled back, she turned to Caroline. "I don't even know where to begin."

Caroline pulled Olivia into her arms, rubbing her hands up and down the detective's back. "Well, begin by saying you'll come up and cook with me sometime."

"I'll come up and cook with you sometime," Olivia obeyed.

They split from their embrace and Alex took Olivia's hand in hers. "I think we should hit the road. I love you all. I'll call when we get home so you know we made it safely, OK?"

"You'd better. Bye, girls. Love you," Caroline said as she watched Alex and Olivia open the door and head out to the car with their bags.

"Love you too!" Olivia shouted before getting in the car.

Josie, Cam, Caroline, and Mag were standing on the porch waving goodbye as Alex eased back out of the driveway. They waved and blew kisses, which Olivia returned, as did Alex, until they were out of sight.

When they reached the corner and turned to make their way to the road that would take them back to Manhattan, Olivia reached across the centre console to place a hand on Alex's thigh. "Merry Christmas, Peaches."

"Merry Christmas, Cupcake. Love you."

Olivia looked out the window and marvelled at how she could feel so good from having had a wonderful time with the Cabots and still feel so disappointed from having to go back home to work. "I love you too, Alex. I always will," she replied, leaving her hand on her lover's thigh the entire drive back.


End file.
